Boot up so slow and shutdown also

I have a laptop (Philips X57} 1 gig RAM running Vista Ultimate. Recently notice an increased boot up time ( 2 minutes plus) and shutdown take 1.5 minutes. Is this normal. I have recently renewed Norton Internet Security and paid extra for something called Norton SystemWorks Basic Edition.I have the feeling that Norton may be the cause of the slowing down. I don't have very much loaded on the laptop.I have Aol 9VR which seems to work fine but also slow to laod .I have seen lots of stuff about uninstalling Norton and using AVG free. Would this be a good idea?Any suggestions and advice appreciated

Norton is seen by many to be at the heart of slow systems, it may or may not be true.

Other than the RAM point, given that the change is "linked" to Norton changes why not uninstall and try other (free) alternatives and see if things get better. You can always revert to Norton if you prefer.

To check if a particular program is slowing the machine when you switch on, e.g. an antivirus program or when you shut down, go to Control Panel > Classic View > Performance Information and Tools > Advanced Tools in the left pane.

On this screen the problem is sometimes shown. If not, click View Performance Details in Event Log (Event Viewer). Events in the 100 series are boot events and I believe those in the 200 series are shut down events. These can be followed through by double-clicking them, then clicking Event Log Online at the bottom.